Can visibility states of collections be saved on a view layer?
You can use the "Local Collections" in blender 2.81. They can work per ui window and not per view layer. 
Go to the "N" Panel>View>Collections, check "Local Collections", and toggle visibility with the eye icon.

You then uncheck "Local Collections" to get back to the previous state.

Alternatively you could duplicate the view layer in the initial state, and then go back to it once you are finished tweaking your scene in the other view layer. The duplicate icon is in the top right corner next to the "remove" icon.